Volunteer in Vietnam: Children's Program

Location

Placements are currently based in two locations around the central region of Vietnam, which is famous for its lush green rice paddies, rich traditional culture, beautiful beaches, and delicious Vietnamese food.

Da Nang is Vietnam's third largest city located on the banks of the Han River. It is an hour's flight from Vietnam's major international airports: Ho Chi Minh (in the south) and Hanoi (in the north).

Tam Ky is the provincial capital of the Quang Nam province and is located 70 km south of Da Nang.

Children’s Program

Our Vietnam partner will be very grateful for whatever time you can offer, whether you can stay for one month or 12. Your contribution is invaluable to the children on the program. The work is incredibly rewarding; you can make a difference for these children, and help to brighten their future.

Volunteers in the Vietnam Orphanage program have the chance to help over 1,000 disadvantaged children in orphanages, social centres, schools and rehabilitation centres in the central region of Vietnam.  

Typical voluntary activities for this program are:

• Baby care
• Teaching basic English, art, crafts, sports, life skills
• Playing the roles of mothers, fathers, sisters or brothers
• Helping with physio and mental therapy
• Fundraising for extra food, medical care and education.

Qualified physiotherapists, occupational therapists, clinical psychologists, behavioural therapists, play therapists, doctors, nurses, orthotics prosthetists, podiatrists and all people with a medical qualification are highly sought after in the Vietnam program.

Throughout your placement in the Vietnam Orphanage program you may be asked to teach English to local members of the community. These may take place in hospitals, language centres or other community organisations.

Volunteer Work Expectation

Volunteers will be expected to work five days per week in most placements. The hours will vary from placement to placement but a typical day would include approximately five hours of work per day.

Some volunteers have struggled with the fact that they are not working a full 8 hour "western style" day. In some placements you may only be required to work 3-5 hours. If you have concerns about this, you can be pro-active in your approach and find other things to supplement your teaching. In the past volunteers have done fundraising for the orphanages, made a vegetable patch and wrote a placement guide for future volunteers! There are always projects to work on to benefit the children or to organize your placement site.

Even though you may have other volunteers in the same placement as yourself, you should expect to be teaching/working with the children independently as the children will be broken up into groups.

Accommodation

Volunteers are provided with accommodation during the program which is covered by the program fee. Vietnam is a developing country, although your accommodation will not truly reflect this and you should find your living arrangements relatively comfortable. You should expect to have power and you will have running water although hot water may not always be available.

Most volunteers stay in rented houses with a group of other volunteers. There are flush toilets available at the volunteer accommodation.

Volunteers will be provided with bedding and pillows. Please be aware that you will need to provide your own towels. You can choose to bring some from home or alternatively they can be purchased cheaply in Vietnam. Volunteers should expect to be sharing a room with 1 - 3 others, In some houses, there will also be lockable cabinets provided where volunteers can keep their documents secure.

Meals and Food

Volunteers are provided with three meals per days as well as drinking water. It is essential that you do not drink the local water and you will be able to use the water purifiers' at the volunteer accommodation. Volunteers are also expected to pay for their own food if they travel during their lunch break times or on weekends.

Meals are generally prepared for you, although this varies depending on where you are placed.  Typically a local Vietnamese staff member will serve lunch and dinner each day and our past volunteers agree that the food is plentiful and delicious! A cold breakfast, typically consisting of bread, spreads and fresh fruit is provided daily.

Vegetarians can be catered for as long as you let your GVN volunteer coordinator know in advance. The meals which are served are mostly local Vietnamese cuisine.

Free Time

Volunteers are free to do as they please during down time. For most, free time will be on weekends, public holidays and after volunteer duties are done for the day.

You can use free time to prepare for any future work or activities you may wish to plan. Some volunteers choose to help in other programs when they have free time.  You may like to meet up with other volunteers during your free time to swap ideas or simply spend time with them. You may also like to visit local sights of interest, or travel further on weekends when you have more time.

If volunteers wish to spend time in Hanoi or Saigon then we recommend you allow an extra week before or after your placement to do so.

Communication

If you'd like to bring a cell phone, it would be the best if you could get a mobile that works in GMS network. Our partner will instruct you how to get Vietnam sim-card to use for your phone in Vietnam. Many volunteers use Vietnam sim-cards to receive international calls or send text messages.

You should have regular access to internet and e-mail at your placement, although the internet can be frustratingly slow at times. All placements now have a computer in the house which is connected to the internet. However these connections are not always reliable so you may need to visit the local internet café at times. Volunteers with their own laptop will also be able to use the internet connection in the volunteer house. Please note that the security of your laptop is your own responsibility.

Number of Volunteers

The Vietnam program usually has between 10 and 25 volunteers per month, but the number of volunteers varies depending on the season.  Generally you are placed with one to three other volunteers at your project.

Costs

Application Fee – US $97

Your application fee is fully transferable and will secure your place on the program, (or any other GVN program of your choice), at a placement date that is suitable to you.*

*Your application fee provides you with access to any of GVN's volunteer programs over the next 5 years, as many times as you like without having to pay another application fee!

Children under 18 are not required to pay the application fee when volunteering together with a parent/guardian.  (Except for participants in our Youth Tour program who are required to pay a US$97 application fee.)

To return to the main Vietnam program, click here.